Snapshots presents Chris Torkewitz on his new jazz album NY Ensembles
"Becoming a part of the New York music community enabled me to merge my prior influences and find my voice as a performer and composer."
Could you tell us about your new album NY Ensembles?
"NY Ensembles" features my compositions for Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Chamber Orchestra and was recorded in New York by 24 world-class musicians and soloists. The music came out beautifully, and I'm thrilled that everybody is now getting a chance to hear the performance. For me, this album is a vital snapshot that presents the musical creations influenced by my travels and transcultural impressions. As a composer and performer, I identify greatly with the musical outcome and feel lucky that I was also involved in the final stages of the production part. Over the years, many initial compositional ideas and drafts evolved into new works with various characters. My sounds got transformed and enriched by the energy and the music scene of the Big Apple.
We recorded the album at the Manhattan School of Music before an attentive audience. I mainly conducted the ensembles and performed as a tenor sax soloist and flutist on the tune "T.S." (a jazz tentet composition). The abbreviation "T.S." could stand for "Tower Song," "Tenor Saxophone," or "Thelonious Sphere (Monk)" — it's your choice. I wrote the song during an artist's residency at the International House NY where I lived in the building's west tower with a panoramic view over the Hudson River. The work was inspired by seeing cloud formations moving rhythmically across the sky during a thunderstorm and watching this mirrored in the water below in multi-faceted variations.
Musicians "NY Ensembles"
Adam Matthes | Aleksandr Karjaka | Amanda Gookin | Austin Walker | Ben Bryden | Bradley Madsen | Chris Torkewitz | Curtis Stewart | Dan Blankinship | David Ashton | David Smith | Florian Hoefner | Isaac Kaplan | Jannina Norpoth | Jay Rattman | Jim Saltzman | John Raymond | Kathryn Andrews | Lisa Dispigno | Markus Schieferdecker | Mat Schumer | Max Seigel | Olli Hirvonen | Sam Hoyt | Tim Vaughn | Vicky Chow
How have your experiences as a Fulbrighter influenced the album?
Composing the music for the album goes back to my days as a freelance musician in Cologne, Germany. When I moved to New York City as a Fulbright scholar in 2007, I brought over some sketches I had written before and kept creating new music inspired by my new surroundings. Things and realities that once appeared distant suddenly became close, a tension that I tried to explore musically, playing with the idea of contrasting worlds and changing perspectives. Becoming a part of the New York music community enabled me to merge my prior influences and find my voice as a performer and composer.
I am thankful for the opportunity I was given to visit the United States as a Fulbright grantee. A Fulbright renewal grant enabled me to continue my Master's studies and begin a doctorate (D.M.A.) in Manhattan School's Jazz Arts Advancement Program. The continued studies helped refine my composing and performing skills.
Who is your greatest musical inspiration, and why?
I am drawing many inspirations from the contemporary NY jazz scene, Afro-Cuban rhythm culture, and European music and art traditions.
Influences range from Charlie "Bird" Parker to Alban Berg, to Afro-Cuban percussion and dance masters, and painters like Manet and Dix, all of which help create musical energy waves of tension and release that draw audiences into contrasting worlds.
About Chris
Described as "masterful, technical perfection" (Vittorio Lo Conte, Musiczoom), Chris Torkewitz has been recognized as being in the "super-skilled" class of musicians and hailed for his "commanding fluency" (Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition).
Torkewitz has performed at Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, the Kennedy Center, and for the German embassies in Toronto, DC, and New York. He has had the extraordinary honor of performing for Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela, as well as of sharing stages with jazz legends like Bob Mintzer, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, and Dave Liebman.
A skilled music educator, Chris was awarded in 2014 a professorship of popular music at the Macromedia University of Arts and Applied Sciences Freiburg, Germany. Previously, he taught on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music for both the Precollege and College Divisions.
Find Chris on:
Instagram | Youtube | Facebook | LinkedIn
"NY Ensembles" is available as a double LP, CD, and on all download/streaming platforms:
"Multi-instrumentalist Chris has released an album of the most adventurous colorful ensembles you will ever hear…"
(Dick Metcalf -- Contemporary Fusion Reviews)